Hoops Thoughts on the Dance

Thoughts on the game:


1. I am genuinely happy for the Tarheels. They represented the ACC, who ends the tourney with a 12-4 record, while the Big 10 comes in 2nd at 12-5....... And of course the ACC wins the most important game of all. Do the Heels get a Big 10 championship ring as well? Let there be no doubt which conference reigns supreme. Forget the media hype. Just look at facts.....


2. As Billy Packer FINALLY noticed with 1 minute to go, about 50% of the screens set by Illinois were illegal. At least half of them. But the refs were consistent for sure. Consistently crappy....


3. Sean May was a man tonight and a man during the tourney. I gained some new respect for him and how hard he played. Father and son win national championships. Pretty impressive. He gets player of the game and NCAA Tourney MVP....... Oh, and happy birthday......


4. Rashad McWho? Where was McCants in the 2nd half? At least now he can spring out of prison......


5. Illinois is just a tough team. Can one team hit so many big long-distance shots? Deron Williams is a man. I never really watched him play until this tourney. I'll still take my guy - Jack though......


6. I checked over at the UNC message board. Their game thread had over 1500 messages. Most started with "WTF....".


7. What was with Nantz's line at the end - "there's a new Dean in college basketball". In what is the most important moment in the entire college basketball season, with a coach trying to show he belongs with the elite, and you have to pull out a Dean Smith reference. Personally, I didn't like it..... Let it go!!


8. My recommendation for an ending line - "HE'S NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE!!!".....


9. Marvin Williams - get that guy some stick-em. Of course, he'll be able to afford it with his first round draft money.......


10. Ok, UNC fans, let the mass exodus begin. My prediction - bye Raymond Felton, bye Rashad McCants, bye Marvin Williams (even though he didn't play well), and probably bye Sean May. I know May has done nothing but talk about coming back, but what motivation does he have now? I mean really.....However, the good news for Tarheel fans.......


11. Start taking your pick of the recruiting classes of 2006 and 2007. If you didn't have an advantage already, you have even that much more of one now. You can stop worrying about the Coach K ads during the game. Maybe Old Roy will get a gig pitching the Platinum AMEX.....


12. To Illinois fans, I know how you feel. I really do......


13. A monster has just been created in Dick Vitale. I take that back - he was already a monster - now he'll just be ultr-super-annoying monster. He picked the Tarheels to win it all on the night we lost to UConn last year, and he never waivered..... Drat


14. "Dear Matt Doherty, thanks for leaving the fridge full......Sincerly Roy Williams".......... While the media cannot call Roy Williams "the guy who couldn't win the big one", they can call him the "guy who hasn't won the big one with his own players". Let the carnage begin......... Honestly, does Williams deserve major credit for turning around a group of talented, self-centered underacheivers, or is this just a group of kids that matured naturally and Roy is a master of timing. For my money, I'll go with the coach. Guys have to buy into a system, and it took awhile, but Roy got them thinking team (at least mostly).


15. One last note to Tarheel fans. Don't forget who was the last team to beat you. Don't forget who knocked you out of the ACC tourney 2 years in a row. We shall return!!!! Of course the last time they won the NC game, it was also GT that had last beat them. Small world.


16. Lastly, not one GT highlight in "One Shining Moment" video (that I saw). Sadness abounds.